Ezra 10
10
Foreign Wives and Children Put Away
1Now when Ezra had prayed, and when he had confessed, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, there assembled unto him out of Israel a very great congregation of men and women and children: for the people wept very sore. 2And Shechani´ah the son of Jehi´el, one of the sons of Elam, answered and said unto Ezra, We have trespassed against our God, and have taken strange wives of the people of the land: yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing. 3Now therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives, and such as are born of them, according to the counsel of my lord, and of those that tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law. 4Arise; for this matter belongeth unto thee: we also will be with thee: be of good courage, and do it. 5Then arose Ezra, and made the chief priests, the Levites, and all Israel, to swear that they should do according to this word. And they sware.
6Then Ezra rose up from before the house of God, and went into the chamber of Jo´hanan the son of Eli´ashib: and when he came thither, he did eat no bread, nor drink water: for he mourned because of the transgression of them that had been carried away. 7And they made proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem unto all the children of the captivity, that they should gather themselves together unto Jerusalem; 8and that whosoever would not come within three days, according to the counsel of the princes and the elders, all his substance should be forfeited, and himself separated from the congregation of those that had been carried away.
9Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered themselves together unto Jerusalem within three days. It was the ninth month, on the twentieth day of the month; and all the people sat in the street of the house of God, trembling because of this matter, and for the great rain. 10And Ezra the priest stood up, and said unto them, Ye have transgressed, and have taken strange wives, to increase the trespass of Israel. 11Now therefore make confession unto the Lord God of your fathers, and do his pleasure: and separate yourselves from the people of the land, and from the strange wives. 12Then all the congregation answered and said with a loud voice, As thou hast said, so must we do. 13But the people are many, and it is a time of much rain, and we are not able to stand without, neither is this a work of one day or two: for we are many that have transgressed in this thing. 14Let now our rulers of all the congregation stand, and let all them which have taken strange wives in our cities come at appointed times, and with them the elders of every city, and the judges thereof, until the fierce wrath of our God for this matter be turned from us. 15Only Jonathan the son of As´ahel and Jahazi´ah the son of Tikvah were employed about this matter: and Meshul´lam and Shab´bethai the Levite helped them.
16And the children of the captivity did so. And Ezra the priest, with certain chief of the fathers, after the house of their fathers, and all of them by their names, were separated, and sat down in the first day of the tenth month to examine the matter. 17And they made an end with all the men that had taken strange wives by the first day of the first month.
18And among the sons of the priests there were found that had taken strange wives: namely, of the sons of Jesh´u-a the son of Joz´adak, and his brethren; Ma-asei´ah, and Eli-e´zer, and Jarib, and Gedali´ah. 19And they gave their hands that they would put away their wives; and being guilty, they offered a ram of the flock for their trespass. 20And of the sons of Immer; Hana´ni, and Zebadi´ah. 21And of the sons of Harim; Ma-asei´ah, and Eli´jah, and Shemai´ah, and Jehi´el, and Uzzi´ah. 22And of the sons of Pashur; Eli-oe´nai, Ma-asei´ah, Ish´ma-el, Nethan´e-el, Joz´abad, and Ela´sah.
23Also of the Levites; Joz´abad, and Shim´e-i, and Kelai´ah, (the same is Keli´ta,) Pethahi´ah, Judah, and Eli-e´zer. 24Of the singers also; Eli´ashib: and of the porters; Shallum, and Telem, and Uri.
25Moreover of Israel: of the sons of Parosh; Rami´ah, and Jezi´ah, and Malchi´ah, and Mi´amin, and Ele-a´zar, and Malchi´jah, and Benai´ah. 26And of the sons of Elam; Mattani´ah, Zechari´ah, and Jehi´el, and Abdi, and Jer´emoth, and Eli´ah. 27And of the sons of Zattu; Eli-oe´nai, Eli´ashib, Mattani´ah, and Jer´emoth, and Zabad, and Azi´za. 28Of the sons also of Be´bai; Jeho´hanan, Hanani´ah, Zab´bai, and Ath´lai. 29And of the sons of Bani; Meshul´lam, Malluch, and Adai´ah, Jashub, and She´al, and Ramoth. 30And of the sons of Pahath–mo´ab; Adna, and Chelal, Benai´ah, Ma-asei´ah, Mattani´ah, Bez´aleel, and Bin´nu-i, and Manas´seh. 31And of the sons of Harim; Eli-e´zer, Ishi´jah, Malchi´ah, Shemai´ah, Shim´e-on, 32Benjamin, Malluch, and Shemari´ah. 33Of the sons of Hashum; Mat´tenai, Mat´ta-thah, Zabad, Eliph´elet, Jer´emai, Manas´seh, and Shim´e-i. 34Of the sons of Bani; Ma´adai, Amram, and U´el, 35Benai´ah, Bedei´ah, Chelluh, 36Vani´ah, Mer´emoth, Eli´ashib, 37Mattani´ah, Mat´tenai, and Ja´asau, 38and Bani, and Bin´nu-i, Shim´e-i, 39and Shelemi´ah, and Nathan, and Adai´ah, 40Mach-nad´ebai, Sha´shai, Sha´rai, 41Az´areel, and Shelemi´ah, Shemari´ah, 42Shallum, Amari´ah, and Joseph. 43Of the sons of Nebo; Je-i´el, Mattithi´ah, Zabad, Ze-bi´na, Ja´dau, and Joel, Benai´ah. 44All these had taken strange wives: and some of them had wives by whom they had children.
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King James Version 1611, spelling, punctuation and text formatting modernized by ABS in 1962; typesetting © 2010 American Bible Society.
Ezra 10
10
The People Confess Their Sin
1Ezra was praying and confessing. He was crying and bowing down in front of God’s Temple. While Ezra was doing that, a large group of the Israelites—men, women, and children—gathered around him. They were crying. 2Then Shecaniah son of Jehiel, one of the descendants of Elam, spoke to Ezra and said, “We have not been faithful to our God. We have married the people living around us. But, even though we have done this, there is still hope for Israel. 3Now let us make an agreement before our God to send away all these women and their children. We will do that to follow the advice of Ezra and the people who respect the laws of our God. We will obey God’s law. 4Get up, Ezra. This is your responsibility, but we will support you. So be brave and do it.”
5So Ezra got up. He made the leading priests, the Levites, and all the Israelites promise to do what he said. 6Then Ezra went away from the front of God’s house. He went to the room of Jehohanan son of Eliashib. While Ezra was there, he didn’t eat food or drink water. He did that because he was still very sad. He was very sad about the Israelites who came back to Jerusalem. 7Then he sent a message to every place in Judah and Jerusalem. The message told all the Jewish people who had come back from captivity to meet together in Jerusalem. 8Those who did not come to Jerusalem in three days like the officials and elders said would lose their property and be removed from the group.
9So in three days all the men from the families of Judah and Benjamin gathered in Jerusalem. And on the twentieth day of the ninth month,#10:9 ninth month That is, November–December. all the people met together in the Temple yard. They were very upset because of the reason for the meeting and because of the heavy rain. 10Then Ezra the priest stood and said to them, “You people have not been faithful to God. You have married foreign women. You have made Israel more guilty by doing that. 11Now you must confess your sins to the Lord, the God of your ancestors. You must obey his command. Separate yourselves from the people living around you and from your foreign wives.”
12Then the whole group who met together answered Ezra. They shouted, “Ezra, you are right! We must do what you say. 13But there are many people here. And it is the rainy time of year, so we cannot stay outside. This problem cannot be solved in a day or two because we have sinned in a very bad way. 14Let our leaders decide for the whole group meeting here. Then let every man in our towns who married a foreign woman come here to Jerusalem at a planned time. Let them come here with the elders and judges of their towns. Then God will stop being angry with us.”
15Only a few men were against this plan. They were Jonathan son of Asahel and Jahzeiah son of Tikvah. Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite also were against the plan.
16So the Israelites who came back to Jerusalem accepted the plan. Ezra the priest chose men who were family leaders. He chose one man from each tribe. Each man was chosen by name. On the first day of the tenth month,#10:16 tenth month That is, December–January. the men who were chosen sat down to study each of the cases. 17And by the first day of the first month,#10:17 first month That is, March–April. they finished discussing all the men who had married foreign women.
List of Men Who Married Foreign Women
18These are the names of the descendants of the priests who married foreign women:
From the descendants of Jeshua son of Jozadak and Jeshua’s brothers, these men: Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib, and Gedaliah. 19All of them promised to divorce their wives. And then each one of them offered a ram from the flock for a guilt offering. They did that because of their guilt.
20From the descendants of Immer, these men: Hanani and Zebadiah.
21From the descendants of Harim, these men: Maaseiah, Elijah, Shemaiah, Jehiel, and Uzziah.
22From the descendants of Pashhur, these men: Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethanel, Jozabad, and Elasah.
23Among the Levites, these are the men who married foreign women:
Jozabad, Shimei, Kelaiah (also called Kelita), Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer.
24Among the singers, this is the man who married a foreign woman: Eliashib.
Among the gatekeepers, these are the men who married foreign women: Shallum, Telem, and Uri.
25Among the other Israelites, these men married foreign women:
From the descendants of Parosh, these men: Ramiah, Izziah, Malkijah, Mijamin, Eleazar, Malkijah, and Benaiah.
26From the descendants of Elam, these men: Mattaniah, Zechariah, Jehiel, Abdi, Jeremoth, and Elijah.
27From the descendants of Zattu, these men: Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, Jeremoth, Zabad, and Aziza.
28From the descendants of Bebai, these men: Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai, and Athlai.
29From the descendants of Bani, these men: Meshullam, Malluch, Adaiah, Jashub, Sheal, and Jeremoth.
30From the descendants of Pahath Moab, these men: Adna, Kelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezalel, Binnui, and Manasseh.
31From the descendants of Harim, these men: Eliezer, Ishijah, Malkijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon, 32Benjamin, Malluch, and Shemariah.
33From the descendants of Hashum, these men: Mattenai, Mattattah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh, and Shimei.
34From the descendants of Bani, these men: Maadai, Amram, Uel, 35Benaiah, Bedeiah, Keluhi, 36Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib, 37Mattaniah, Mattenai, and Jaasu.
38From the descendants of Binnui, these men: Shimei, 39Shelemiah, Nathan, Adaiah, 40Macnadebai, Shashai, Sharai, 41Azarel, Shelemiah, Shemariah, 42Shallum, Amariah, and Joseph.
43From the descendants of Nebo, these men: Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Jaddai, Joel, and Benaiah.
44All these men married foreign women, and some of them had children with these wives.
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